Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman receives a warm welcome from BJP women workers on her arrival, at the party headquarters, in New Delhi on Tuesday.
| Photo Credit: ANI

Budget 2024: Nirmala Sitharaman signals shift from earlier trickle-down strategy to a slew of schemes

Presenting her seventh Union Budget and the first after this year’s Lok Sabha election, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on July 23 unveiled a flurry of measures aimed at fixing the woes of unemployed youth, small businesses, and the middle class, and sought to strengthen the ruling NDA coalition’s bonds with support for multiple investment projects in Bihar and Andhra Pradesh.

Budget 2024: States ruled by non-NDA parties ignored, says Opposition; four CMs to boycott Niti Aayog meet

The Opposition slammed the Union Budget calling it an exercise in political jugglery to appease the BJP’s two key allies, Janata Dal (United) and Telugu Desam Party, while doing little to address issues such as high rate of unemployment and inflation. States ruled by non-National Democratic Alliance (NDA) parties, the Opposition said, have been ignored.

Budget 2024: Stocks wobble on capital gain tax plan

The stock markets reacted negatively to the Budgetary provisions concerning additional tax burden on investors and closed in the negative territory led by losses in banking stocks after undergoing high volatility. The key benchmark indices recovered most of the lost ground in the second half of trading.

Trump assassination attempt: U.S. Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle steps down

The director of the U.S. Secret Service said on July 23 she is resigning following the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump that unleashed intensifying outcry about how the agency tasked with protecting current and former Presidents could fail in its core mission.

Y.S. Jagan approaches A.P. High Court seeking Leader of Opposition status 

Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy filed a writ petition in the High Court (HC) praying for a direction to the A.P. government to designate him as the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Legislative Assembly, in accordance with Section 12-B of the A.P. Payment of Salaries and Pension and Removal Of Disqualifications Act, 1953.

NTA will release final NEET results within two days: Dharmendra Pradhan

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on July 23 hailed the Supreme Court’s decision on the NEET-UG issue and announced that the final results of the medical entrance exam would be declared within two days. The merit list would be revised according to the observations made by the Supreme Court, he said.

Nehru Planetarium set for revamp, India’s space achievements to take centre stage

Nehru Planetarium is getting ready for a revamp by the year end, with its gallery set to feature by 2025 new interactive screens focusing on India’s latest space missions and developments in the field of astronomy. The planetarium has now teamed up with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to incorporate the country’s latest space missions into its shows.

Bombay High Court puts temporary hold on Indrani Mukerjea’s Europe trip 

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday passed an ad interim stay on a special court order that permitted Indrani Mukerjea to travel to Spain and United Kingdom until July 29. Ms. Mukerjea who is the prime accused in the alleged murder of her own daughter Sheena Bora, is currently out on bail.  

Sri Lanka apologises for forced cremations policy during pandemic 

Sri Lanka on Tuesday apologised for enforcing a “cremations only” policy during the Covid-19 pandemic, going against the religious sentiments of Muslims, as well as expert views that burials were safe. The government said the Cabinet approved a joint proposal from a group of ministers “to plead an apology on behalf of the government”, from all communities affected by the compulsory cremation policy during the pandemic, when President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was in office.

Paris Olympics preview | Indian pugilists capable of landing medal-winning punches

The presence of two World champions, including an Olympic medallist, and two Worlds medallists in the six-member Indian squad brightens up the country’s prospects in the Paris 2024 boxing ring. After the dismal performance of the male boxers in the initial qualifying phase and the loss of the women’s 57kg quota place due to Parveen Hooda’s missed dope tests, the boxing scene looked better as Amit Panghal (51kg) and Nishant Dev (71kg) notched up two quota places and Jaismine Lamboria reclaimed the 57kg slot.

Paris Olympics preview | Will the ‘nucleus of Indian sports’ live up to its title?

The health of Indian sports will largely depend on the contribution of Olympic medals by the shooters in the Paris Games. It may sound ironical that a sport that has brought nought from the last two Games in Rio and Tokyo, finds itself as the nucleus of Indian sports. There will be 21 shooters, the best from any country including China, competing for 27 medals. Can quality come from quantity? Can there be another gold medal from shooting, the way Abhinav Bindra won by asserting his mastery in air rifle in the Beijing Games in 2008.

A file photo of the RH 560 sounding rocket, on which the Air Breathing Propulsion System was mounted during the test on July 22, 2024.
| Photo Credit: ISRO

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully carried out the second experimental flight for the demonstration of Air Breathing Propulsion Technology.

Also Read: ISRO has a problem: too many rockets, too few satellites to launch | Analysis

The second experimental flight for the demonstration of Air Breathing Propulsion Technology was carried out at 7 a.m. on July 22. The propulsion systems were symmetrically mounted on either side of a RH-560 Sounding Rocket and launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

RH-560 is a two-stage, solid motor based sub-orbital rocket that is designed to be utilised as a cost-effective flying test bed for the demonstration of advanced technologies. It is the heaviest sounding rocket in the ISRO’s family of sounding rockets, and is launched from Sriharikota.

According to ISRO, the flight test achieved satisfactory performance of the Sounding Rocket along with successful ignition of the Air Breathing Propulsion Systems. Nearly 110 parameters were monitored during the flight to assess its performance. The flight data from the mission will be useful for the next phase of development of Air Breathing Propulsion Systems.

Prior to the mission, multiple ground tests were carried out at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), ISRO Propulsion Complex (IPRC), and at the CSIR -National Aerospace Laboratories (CSIR-NAL), Bengaluru.

New Delhi:

The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) work to send an astronaut to space in a joint project with the US’ NASA is going on as scheduled, the Indian agency’s chief Dr S Somanath told NDTV in an exclusive interview.

Of the four astronauts that India had chosen, two will be sent to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for training, and one of them will be selected for the space mission, Dr Somanath said.

“Similarly, the other two will also get training of a different kind… So all four of them will go through certain levels of training through this programme. Many engineers will also be trained by NASA to handle other aspects of space flight,” Dr Somanath said.

He said the ISRO’s eventual goal is human space flight, and the learnings from the whole programme with NASA will feed into the Indian space agency’s experience in finally sending humans to space.

“When we get the capability, if a head of state wants to fly to space, for example, it must be on our vehicle, from our land. I will wait for our Gaganyaan to be ready, to be proven, to be qualified to do that,” the ISRO chief told NDTV when asked whether key leaders would be eligible to fly to space in the far future.

ISRO’s choice of sending an Indian astronaut to space is limited to only the Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon programmes. Explaining why this is so, Dr Somanath said the whole programme is based on the idea of working together such as the International Space Station (ISS).

“NASA offered us a seat from its available opportunities. It is contractually bound for NASA to go through the available vehicles. So it is natural for them to offer to us. But being a commercial contract, we have to go through the agreements with other partners. We are agreeing to that. There are not many choices. The one we got is a choice that the US and NASA gave us,” Dr Somanath said.

He said there is no definite timeline for the launch as NASA may use the available vehicles for their national commitments. The launch in which the Indian astronaut would fly was scheduled later this year, but it will be stretched as “many things are happening,” Dr Somanath told NDTV, adding whenever it happens, the mission would be called “Axiom 4”.

India and the US on June 17 had concluded the Strategic Framework for Human Spaceflight Cooperation to deepen interoperability in space.

A fact-sheet issued by the US and India after the iCET Dialogue between US National Security Adviser (NSA) Jake Sullivan and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval had said the two sides are also exploring opportunities to participate in the Lunar Gateway Programme.

The Lunar Gateway Programme aims to build a space station around the Moon as part of the collaborative Artemis programme spearheaded by the US.

New Delhi:

The Indian Space Research Organisation is setting its sights again on the Moon after a successful Chandrayaan-3 mission last year, but now it plans to send humans to the natural satellite.

Speaking to NDTV, ISRO chief S Somanath talked about the future missions and the Next-Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV) India is building to take humans to the Moon. “We are building a new rocket called NGLV or ‘Soorya’. It is currently under design and will have a new engine based on LOx (Liquid Oxygen) and Methane. It will have liquid oxygen and methane engines for the lower stages, the upper stages will have a cryogenic engine.”

He added that ‘Soorya’, India’s mega-rocket, will be much bigger than the present ones. The Low Earth Orbit (LEO) payload capacity will be over 40 tonnes, this is very much required for human spaceflight missions. It is the Soorya rocket that will send India’s Gaganyatri to the lunar surface, hopefully by 2040.

The Pushpak Reusable Launch Vehicle

When asked about the Pushpak, the un-crewed, autonomous winged reusable launch, Mr Somanath said, “The first phase of Pushpak’s scaled-down version is over, with three successful safe landings, we are in the process of building a bigger version, which would be 1.6 times the scaled-down model. It will be tested on similar lines with landing first and it will be launched through a rocket to orbit. The focus has shifted there now.”

Mr Somanath added that it will be launched on a three-stage to the orbit. The ISRO chief also explained the value of the Pushpak vehicle and said, “It can take the payloads up and bring them back. The payload is more valuable than the rocket itself and because of that it is cost-effective. Deploying a satellite using Pushpak is not cost-effective, then you can use SSLV, PSLV, LMV-3 or GSLV. Using the reusable launch vehicle the endeavour would be to send a payload conduct experiments in orbit and bring it back then it has a lot of value.”

India’s First Space Station

On the first Indian Space Station, the ISRO chief told NDTV, “We are currently designing it. The space station’s first phase has to be built by 2028. We have completed or rather, engineered the detailed design, which is capable of being launched by the LVM3 (Launch Vehicle Mark-3). So, in 2028, we will start by launching the first module.”

The ISRO chief also informed that his team has made the full project report and cost estimate for government approval. The space station will initially be developed and designed to handle robotic activity.

“It will only be robotics to start with because the process has to succeed and we have to build the capability for human spaceflight. A lot of confidence has to be built to operate for a long period. So, that will only happen in 2035. Until then, the space station will be developed and designed to handle robotic activity with an external robot mechanism,” he said.

Mr Somanath also mentioned that India might not participate in a global effort to replace the International Space Station if it is decommissioned.

“We are limited by our resources and efforts required. We have to be on equal footing to talk about it,” he said.

New Delhi:

In a rare distinction for any space agency, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) today achieved a rare hat-trick of the safe landing of an uncrewed, autonomous winged reusable launch vehicle during an experiment in this century.

ISRO said in a statement that it has proudly achieved a third consecutive success in the Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) Landing Experiment (LEX) today. “The third and final test in the series of LEX (03) was conducted at 07:10 IST at the Aeronautical Test Range (ATR) in Chitradurga, Karnataka,” it said.

Hat-trick for ISRO in RLV LEX!

ISRO achieved its third and final consecutive success in the Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) Landing EXperiment (LEX) on June 23, 2024.

“Pushpak” executed a precise horizontal landing, showcasing advanced autonomous capabilities under… pic.twitter.com/cGMrw6mmyH

— ISRO (@isro) June 23, 2024

ISRO chairman S Somanath told NDTV, “ISRO achieved a hat-trick of safe landings by the Pushpak or Reusable Launch Vehicle, now this sets the stage for the orbital test of Pushpak. It will be launched on a rocket into space, and then it can safely land on Earth. Truly a game-changer technology to reduce cost of access to space. A uniquely atmanirbhar effort by ISRO to harness reusable rockets in a swadeshi way in the 21st century.”

“Bringing the most expensive part of the rocket that houses the electronics is what makes Pushpak the futuristic rocket tech for India. ISRO continues to work hard to master technology,” he said.

The real big test will come when India goes in for the orbital test. Mr Somanath says, “The Orbital Re-entry Vehicle (ORV) will have high temperature protection tiles on its outer surface. Liquid rocket engines and a retractable landing gear. It will also have space for a payload that can be deployed through a door that will open.”

The making of India’s own delta winged ‘space shuttle’ of sorts, though uncrewed, it is indeed a big leap of faith at a point where other agencies are only attempting to bring back spent hollow rocket stages.

A whole new vehicle much larger in size will be made for the orbital test based on the success of today’s test and it will first be tested in a landing experiment before it is flown into space and brought back to Earth like a space plane.

ISRO says following the success of the RLV (Reusable Landing Vehicle) LEX-01 and LEX-02 missions, RLV LEX-03 re-demonstrated the autonomous landing capability of the RLV under more challenging release conditions (cross range of 500 m against 150 m for LEX-02) and more severe wind conditions.

RLV-LEX3 Video pic.twitter.com/MkYLP4asYY

— ISRO (@isro) June 23, 2024

The winged vehicle, ‘Pushpak’, was released from an Indian Air Force Chinook Helicopter at an altitude of 4.5 km. From a release point 4.5 km away from the runway, Pushpak autonomously executed cross-range correction manoeuvres, approached the runway and performed a precise horizontal landing at the runway centreline. Due to this vehicle’s low lift-to-drag ratio aerodynamic configuration, the landing velocity exceeded 320 kmph, as compared to 260 kmph for a commercial aircraft and 280 kmph for a typical fighter aircraft. After touchdown, the vehicle velocity was reduced to nearly 100 kmph using its brake parachute, after which the landing gear brakes were employed for deceleration and stop on the runway. “During this ground roll phase, Pushpak utilises its rudder and nose wheel steering system to autonomously maintain a stable and precise ground roll along the runway,” the ISRO statement said.

According to ISRO, this mission simulated the approach and landing interface and high-speed landing conditions for a vehicle returning from space, reaffirming ISRO’s expertise in acquiring the most critical technologies required for the development of a RLV.

Through this mission, the advanced guidance algorithm catering to longitudinal and lateral plane error corrections, which is essential for the future Orbital Re-entry Mission, has been validated. The RLV-LEX uses multi-sensor fusion including sensors like inertial sensor, Radar altimeter, Flush air data system, Pseudolite system and NavIC. Notably, the RLV-LEX-03 mission reused the winged body and flight systems as such without any modification, from the LEX-02 mission, demonstrating the robustness of ISRO’s capability of design to reuse flight systems for multiple missions.

This mission simulates the approach and landing interface and high-speed landing conditions for a vehicle returning from space, which will reaffirm ISRO’s expertise in acquiring the most critical technologies required for the development of a Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) asserts ISRO

India embarked on making its own version of the swadeshi ‘space shuttle’ by planning about it more than 15 years ago, but actual work, it seems, started 10 years ago when a dedicated team of engineers and scientists plunged into making RLV a reality. The 6.5 metre aeroplane-like spacecraft weighs 1.75 tonnes.

During the descent phase, which is essentially a glider like event, small thrusters will help the vehicle to be navigated to the exact spot where it is supposed to land.

The making of the Indian space shuttle or RLV has taken more than 10 years and the government has invested over Rs 100 crore in the project.

Mr Somanath congratulated the team for their efforts in maintaining the success streak in such complex missions. Dr S Unnikrishnan Nair, director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, emphasised that this consistent success boosts ISRO’s confidence in the critical technologies essential for future orbital re-entry missions.

The winged vehicle, Pushpak, was released from an Indian Air Force Chinook Helicopter at an altitude of 4.5 km.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) completed the third Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) Landing Experiment (LEX) on June 23 at the Aeronautical Test Range (ATR) in Chitradurga, Karnataka.

This is the third and final test in the series of LEX (03) which was conducted at 7.10 a.m.

“Following the success of the RLV LEX-01 and LEX-02 missions, RLV LEX-03 re-demonstrated the autonomous landing capability of the RLV under more challenging release conditions (cross range of 500 m against 150 m for LEX-02) and more severe wind conditions,” ISRO said.

On Sunday morning the winged vehicle, Pushpak, was released from an Indian Air Force Chinook Helicopter at an altitude of 4.5 km.

ISRO said that from a release point 4.5 km away from the runway, Pushpak autonomously executed cross-range correction manoeuvres, approached the runway and performed a precise horizontal landing at the runway centreline.

“Due to this vehicle’s low lift-to-drag ratio aerodynamic configuration, the landing velocity exceeded 320 kmph, compared to 260 kmph for a commercial aircraft and 280 kmph for a typical fighter aircraft. After touchdown, the vehicle velocity was reduced to nearly 100 kmph using its brake parachute, after which the landing gear brakes were employed for deceleration and stop on the runway. During this ground roll phase, Pushpak utilises its rudder and nose wheel steering system to autonomously maintain a stable and precise ground roll along the runway,” the space agency said.

Also Read | ISRO successfully conducts second ‘Pushpak’ Reusable Landing Vehicle landing experiment 

It added that this mission simulated the approach and landing interface and high-speed landing conditions for a vehicle returning from space, reaffirming ISRO’s expertise in acquiring the most critical technologies required for the development of a Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV).

“Through this mission, the advanced guidance algorithm catering to longitudinal and lateral plane error corrections, which is essential for the future Orbital Re-entry Mission has been validated,” the space agency said.

It said that the RLV-LEX uses multisensor fusion including sensors like the Inertial sensor, Radar altimeter, Flush air data system, Pseudolite system and NavIC. Notably, the RLV-LEX-03 mission reused the winged body and flight systems as such without any modification, from the LEX-02 mission, demonstrating the robustness of ISRO’s capability of design to reuse flight systems for multiple missions.

“This mission simulates the approach & landing interface and high-speed landing conditions for a vehicle returning from space, which will reaffirm ISRO’s expertise in acquiring the most critical technologies required for the development of a Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV),” ISRO said.

New Delhi:

The high-level committee announced by Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday to look into ways to improve the functioning of the National Testing Agency has now been constituted, and consists of some well-known academicians and technocrats.

The agency and the government have been under fire over the alleged irregularities in the NEET exam and the cancellation of the UGC-NET test. Over 30 lakh students appeared for the two important exams. 

Dr K Radhakrishnan, a former ISRO chief and the current chairperson of the board of governors of IIT Kanpur will head the seven-member committee. Some of the others on the panel are Dr Randeep Guleria, the former director of AIIMS in Delhi, BJ Rao, the vice-chancellor of the Central University of Hyderabad, Aditya Mittal, the dean of student affairs at IIT Delhi and Ramamurthy K, a former professor in the civil engineering department of IIT Madras.

Govind Jaiswal, joint secretary of the Ministry of Education, and Pankaj Bansal, co-founder of People Strong and board member of Karmayogi Bharat, make up the remaining two members, the Union government said on Saturday. 

On Thursday, Mr Pradhan had said, “The government is also setting up a high-level committee. It will give recommendations on improving NTA’s structure, its functioning, examination process, transparency and data, and security protocol. We are committed to zero-error exams.” 

When he was asked about the composition of the panel, he had said it would have technocrats, scientists, education administrators and academicians.

The Exam Mess

Nearly 24 lakh students had appeared for the NEET-UG 2024 for undergraduate medical courses, which is conducted by the National Testing Agency, on May 5. The results were announced on June 4, 10 days before schedule, but allegations of question paper leaks and grace marks to over 1,500 students triggered protests. Cases were also filed in courts, including the Supreme Court, which has rapped the NTA. 

On Wednesday, the Education Ministry had cancelled the UGC-NET exam, also conducted by the NTA, just a day after it was held. Over 9 lakh candidates had appeared for the exam, which is held for Assistant Professor posts in universities and colleges and to determine eligibility for junior research fellowships. Mr Pradhan had said the UGC chairman had received information from the cyber crime team in the Home Ministry about questions being on the darknet.

The opposition, strengthened after its much-improved showing in the Lok Sabha polls, has attacked the government. The Congress has held nationwide protests and the INDIA alliance is likely to look to corner the government on the issue when the Parliament session begins on Monday. 

ISRO’s Launch Vehicle Mark-III (LVM3) M4 carrying ‘Chandrayaan-3’ lifts off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, in Sriharikota, on July 14, 2023. According to ISRO, initial aerodynamic design studies for launch vehicles demand evaluation of a large number of configurations. 
| Photo Credit: File photo

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has developed Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software named Parallel RANS Solver for Aerospace Vehicle Aero-thermo-dynamic Analysis (PraVaHa).

This software was developed in ISRO’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC). It can simulate external and internal flows on launch vehicles, winged and non winged re-entry vehicles.

According to ISRO, initial aerodynamic design studies for launch vehicles demand evaluation of a large number of configurations. Any aerospace vehicle while moving through the Earth’s atmosphere during launch or re-entry is subjected to severe aerodynamic and aerothermal loads in terms of external pressure and heat flux.

Understanding the airflow around aircraft, rocket bodies, or Crew Module (CM) during earth re-entry is essential to design the shape, structure, and Thermal Protection System (TPS) required for these bodies.

The unsteady part of aerodynamics contributes to serious flow issues around such rocket bodies and creates significant acoustic noise during the mission. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is one such tool to predict the aerodynamic and aerothermal loads which solve numerically the equations of conservation of mass, momentum, and energy along with the equation of state.

PraVaHa has been used extensively in the Gaganyaan program for aerodynamic analysis of human-rated launch vehicles, viz, HLVM3, Crew Escape System (CES), and CM.

Simulating airflow

Currently, the PraVaHa code is operational to simulate airflow for Perfect Gas & Real Gas conditions. Validations of the code are underway for simulating the effect of chemical reactions that occur during air dissociation upon ‘earth re-entry’ and ‘combustion’ as in scramjet vehicles.

PraVaHa is expected to replace most of the CFD simulations for aero characterisation, which is currently being carried out using commercial software. Besides, this software is expected to help academia and other institutions, engaged in the design of missiles, aircraft and rockets, to find solutions to complex aerodynamic problems.

The test launch of the Agnibaan rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, in Sriharikota on May 30.
| Photo Credit: ANI

The Indian Space Research Organisation has said that it has been extending its technical support and sharing its expertise to facilitate a vibrant space ecosystem in India.

Days after the successful launch of the suborbital mission Agnibaan SOrTeD, conducted by Indian start-up M/s Agnikul Cosmos, the space agency said its support for the recent mission showcases the organisation’s willingness to support and nurture private start-ups in India’s space sector.

“For the Agnibaan mission, Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR (SDSC SHAR), Sriharikota, supported the selection of a suitable site for suborbital flight and assisted in setting up the Launchpad and Control Centre. A robust network for seamless data and communication between the launch pad, the Control Centre, and the ISRO Control Centre was facilitated,” ISRO said.

It added that SHAR developed comprehensive safety plans and procedures to ensure all operations are conducted safely and efficiently.

“They coordinated launch clearances and NOTAM for all launch attempts and provided extensive range systems, including tracking, timing, real-time data processing, and master control operations. Additionally, SHAR supplied historical wind data for flight planning and real-time atmospheric data for launch commit criteria, alongside crucial logistics support for system realization and launch campaigns,” it added.

It said that the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) provided its expertise and facilitated 15-second hot testing of the semi-cryogenic engine.

“They conducted acoustic tests for the launch vehicle’s inter-tank structure at CSIR-NAL’s state-of-the-art acoustic testing facility. The mission design underwent thorough verification and validation by VSSC,” it said.

VSSC provided a comprehensive end-to-end Flight Termination System, including pyro charges, batteries, telecommand decoders, and tracking transponders, ensuring the mission’s range safety. It extended on-site support for assembly, integration, wiring, and last-minute pyro operations during the launch campaign, pre-countdown, and countdown phases.

ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) provided telemetry and tracking support for this launch through a Memorandum of Understanding with the start-up. Detailed discussions between the teams led to the finalization of critical systems, including the onboard telemetry system configuration and the tracking ground station network. ISTRAC supported the launch campaign from its two ground stations at Sriharikota, offering integration, testing, and real-time tracking. They developed and deployed Vehicle Data Acquisition software to filter real-time data flow to the control centre and display systems. On the day of launch, ISTRAC’s ground station network provided real-time support, confirming the successful launch.

The test launch of the Agnibaan rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, in Sriharikota on May 30.
| Photo Credit: ANI

The Indian Space Research Organisation has said that it has been extending its technical support and sharing its expertise to facilitate a vibrant space ecosystem in India.

Days after the successful launch of the suborbital mission Agnibaan SOrTeD, conducted by Indian start-up M/s Agnikul Cosmos, the space agency said its support for the recent mission showcases the organisation’s willingness to support and nurture private start-ups in India’s space sector.

“For the Agnibaan mission, Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR (SDSC SHAR), Sriharikota, supported the selection of a suitable site for suborbital flight and assisted in setting up the Launchpad and Control Centre. A robust network for seamless data and communication between the launch pad, the Control Centre, and the ISRO Control Centre was facilitated,” ISRO said.

It added that SHAR developed comprehensive safety plans and procedures to ensure all operations are conducted safely and efficiently.

“They coordinated launch clearances and NOTAM for all launch attempts and provided extensive range systems, including tracking, timing, real-time data processing, and master control operations. Additionally, SHAR supplied historical wind data for flight planning and real-time atmospheric data for launch commit criteria, alongside crucial logistics support for system realization and launch campaigns,” it added.

It said that the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) provided its expertise and facilitated 15-second hot testing of the semi-cryogenic engine.

“They conducted acoustic tests for the launch vehicle’s inter-tank structure at CSIR-NAL’s state-of-the-art acoustic testing facility. The mission design underwent thorough verification and validation by VSSC,” it said.

VSSC provided a comprehensive end-to-end Flight Termination System, including pyro charges, batteries, telecommand decoders, and tracking transponders, ensuring the mission’s range safety. It extended on-site support for assembly, integration, wiring, and last-minute pyro operations during the launch campaign, pre-countdown, and countdown phases.

ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) provided telemetry and tracking support for this launch through a Memorandum of Understanding with the start-up. Detailed discussions between the teams led to the finalization of critical systems, including the onboard telemetry system configuration and the tracking ground station network. ISTRAC supported the launch campaign from its two ground stations at Sriharikota, offering integration, testing, and real-time tracking. They developed and deployed Vehicle Data Acquisition software to filter real-time data flow to the control centre and display systems. On the day of launch, ISTRAC’s ground station network provided real-time support, confirming the successful launch.